#8. Seduction and Temptation

He had suddenly insisted she change into comfortable clothes, and when she wondered where they were going, it turned out to be outside the palace. They even traveled by carriage for quite a while to reach a village fairly far from the capital. It seemed they would barely make it back to the palace in time for dinner.

“Why are we here…”

As Karina got out of the carriage and turned to look where Aidan was gazing, her words trailed off. An elderly woman was walking with difficulty, supported by a girl who appeared to be around fourteen. Aidan, who had been quietly watching them, stepped forward.

“Let me carry that for you.”

When Aidan tried to take the basket of herbs from the elderly woman’s hand, Kai moved to intervene from behind. Karina slightly grabbed his arm to stop him and shook her head. She wanted to watch what Aidan would do.

Just as Aidan reached for the basket, the girl supporting the elderly woman seemed to lose her strength, and they both stumbled. Aidan quickly extended his arm to prevent the elderly woman from falling, but it appeared they couldn’t take another step.

“I’m sorry. My leg isn’t well.”

Now that she looked closely, the elderly woman had been limping even while being supported. Aidan smiled and said it was fine, then handed the herb basket to the girl. After patting the bewildered-looking girl’s head once, he suddenly picked up the elderly woman. Though both the woman and girl seemed surprised by his unexpected action, he didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Over there?”

Aidan gestured with his eyes toward a small, shabby building at the end of their direction. When the girl nodded, he started walking without hesitation.

“Who are they?”

Karina asked Kai.

“Do you remember when Your Highness told us about Emily the maid’s lover being one of His Highness Lloyd’s people? These are the family of that knight, Liam Smith.”

Karina nodded in understanding, but suddenly frowned at a thought that occurred to her.

“Surely he wasn’t the one who directly attacked His Highness?”

Instead of answering, Kai let out a groan.

“We’re not certain yet. We know he was involved, but we haven’t confirmed whether he carried it out himself or ordered someone else to do it.”

“Where is he?”

Previously, because Aidan hadn’t wanted to, they hadn’t even thought about finding the attacker. But now that they had found the culprit, if he could just testify that he acted on Lloyd’s orders, they could charge Lloyd with the crime. That would completely change the dynamics of the succession struggle.

“We have him under protection, but…”

Protection? Not detention? She couldn’t understand how they could just leave someone who had attacked a prince free.

“He’s unconscious. We rescued him when he jumped into the river while being chased, but he was already severely wounded from an attack before that.”

Ah… A sigh escaped her. She could guess who had chased him without Kai’s explanation.

“Were they trying to eliminate evidence?”

Kai silently nodded at Karina’s question. She felt her teeth clench at how they could so easily dispose of people when they were no longer useful. She had already despised Lloyd, but now she felt like she’d seen the depths of his depravity.

“But why here…”

She couldn’t understand why they had come here if Aidan had the key witness to the attack in custody.

“His Highness said we needed to protect Liam Smith’s family. Liam Smith had already moved his family here for safety, which made it difficult for us to find them.”

“Surely His Highness Lloyd wouldn’t harm them?”

Kai nodded gravely. Ha! Karina exhaled sharply. The elderly woman could barely walk, and the girl wasn’t even an adult yet. She couldn’t understand why anyone would want to harm such people.

“His Highness Lloyd’s people are still tracking Liam Smith. Since they haven’t found his body in the river, they seem to think he might still be alive. His Highness said they might try to use his family to lure him out.”

Karina turned to watch Aidan’s back as he carried the elderly woman into the building.

He really is trying to protect them. He’s trying to protect the family of the man who attacked him.

Just when she thought she understood something about Aidan, he showed another side. When she thought he was shameless and glib, he could be cold; when she worried he might be a criminal from his talk about being a gangster, he showed kindness in protecting his attacker’s family.

When she entered the building with Kai, she saw Aidan helping the elderly woman sit on the bed.

“But who might you all be…?”

The elderly woman looked alternately at Aidan, Kai, and Karina before asking cautiously. Seeing their clothing, she seemed to recognize them as nobles and could barely meet their eyes as she watched them nervously.

“We are protecting Liam Smith.”

“My son?”

Urgency colored the elderly woman’s voice. She seemed to have been worried sick without any contact from her son. Aidan took her hand and continued in a gentle, soothing voice.

“Don’t worry. He’s fine. He’s just slightly injured and receiving treatment now.”

Karina swallowed a sigh while listening from behind. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but even if he regained consciousness, he wouldn’t be safe. He had tried to kill a member of the imperial family. Whether Lloyd was behind it or not, he would pay for that crime. Aidan must have known this too, but he was hiding the crucial facts to avoid upsetting the elderly woman.

“When Liam recovers, he’ll come to see you.”

Would that be possible? Once again, Karina was skeptical of Aidan’s words. Wouldn’t it be fortunate if he just avoided immediate execution?

“Liam was very worried about his mother and sister.”

Whether he knew that Karina was dumbfounded behind him or not, Aidan continued speaking with a calm, gentle smile.

“He was constantly concerned about leaving you two here.”

She couldn’t understand how an unconscious person could have expressed any concerns. Wondering if she was the only one astounded by Aidan’s words, she turned to look at Kai, who was also slightly frowning.

Maybe this man really was a con artist after all. That seemed more credible than him being a gangster or whatever else. It was amazing how he could lie without batting an eye.

“I was thinking of moving you to a more comfortable place, would that be alright?”

Whether Karina and Kai were admiring his smooth lies or not, the elderly woman and girl were completely taken in by his smile and kind words. His handsome appearance seemed to help too. The girl couldn’t take her eyes off Aidan, looking at him as if he were a prince from a fairy tale. Well, he actually was a real prince.

“Where are you planning to take them?”

Aidan finally turned around at Karina’s question.

“I apparently own a castle. I was thinking of taking them there.”

“What about the servants and knights managing that place?”

“Ah…”

He apparently hadn’t thought that far, as his gaze turned to Kai. He seemed to be delegating most tasks to him.

“I’ll arrange for immediate preparations.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Karina cut off Kai’s words.

“If we divide the knights to station them there, it will weaken our security that much.”

Aidan’s gaze shifted to Karina. His expression suggested that while she was right, he didn’t see any other options.

“Let’s take them to the Hewitt duchy.”

“The Hewitt duchy?”

Aidan asked with an expression suggesting he hadn’t considered it.

“They say the darkest place is under the lamplight.”

If they needed to keep them out of Lloyd’s sight, no place was more perfect than the Hewitt duchy. Neither the Empress nor Lloyd could approach that place freely.

“I’ll write a letter to Father. He’ll surely help.”

If it involved the incident of Aidan’s attack, the Duke of Hewitt would help without hesitation.

After contemplating briefly, Aidan rose from his seat with a slight smile.

“Will you do that?”

Karina nodded slightly in response to his agreement to follow her suggestion.

*

“What is this?”

Kate stared at the small folded white envelope placed before her. A smile spread across Lloyd’s face at her question.

“It’s an aphrodisiac that will change Aidan’s heart.”

“An aphrodisiac?”

Kate’s eyes grew round.

“If you put this in the wine Aidan drinks, he won’t be able to refuse you.”

To be precise, it was a powerful aphrodisiac. It would make the whole body heat up and the mind become hazy, making it impossible to properly distinguish who the other person was. If Aidan faced Kate after drinking this, he wouldn’t be able to resist his desires and would embrace her.

“Are you keeping track of what we discussed before?”

Kate’s eyes wavered at Lloyd’s question.

‘How about trying to conceive Aidan’s child?’

After making that suggestion previously, Lloyd had introduced her to a physician. Someone who could accurately determine her fertile period, he had said.

When she nodded almost imperceptibly, Lloyd’s lips curved up in satisfaction.

“It would be good if we could time it for that date. When is it?”

“Two days from now.”

“Two days…”

Lloyd mulled over her words. Two days from now would be the day before the knights’ tournament. If he were to face public humiliation and then participate in the tournament, his already poor skills would become even worse.

“Perfect.”

Lloyd smiled, pleased.

“We’ll take care of all the preparations that day, so don’t worry. Miss Spencer, you just need to figure out how to make Aidan drink the aphrodisiac.”

Was this really okay? Kate couldn’t shake her hesitation despite Lloyd’s words. Was it right to try to conceive Aidan’s child this way? This was an entirely different matter from simply remaining as his lover. Her parents might even raise hell if they found out.

But still…

‘I don’t know how it was before, but I have no interest in you now.’

She still couldn’t give up on Aidan, who had become so cold toward her.

‘I don’t want to see you in this palace.’

She needed something definitive that would allow her to stay by Aidan’s side despite the Hewitt duchy’s pressure. So this was the best option.

Lloyd’s lip corner curved up slightly as he watched Kate nod.

*